Acceptance
by remuslives23
Summary: Albus learns something about his brother - and himself. Written for Week one of the ass carnival.


**Title:** Acceptance  
**Rating:** PG15  
**Word Count:** 2150 approx.  
**Prompts Used:** PERSON: James Potter ll; PLACE: Carnival; OBJECT ONE: Tunnel of Love; OBJECT TWO: Ticket; FOOD: Cotton Candy; QUOTE: "That's the way we are wired. It's the way we're wired. It sucks but it's just a fact of nature. It's also tragic."  
**Summary:** Albus Severus Potter learns something about his brother - and himself.  
**Notes:** Written for week one of the ass_carnival. *bites nails nervously* Er, first proper AS/S fic. Hope it's alright... *goes to hide under bed* Thanks to my long-suffering Beta, **dogsunderfoot  
****Disclaimer:** This piece of fiction is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros. Inc. No money is being made, no copyright or trademark infringement, or offence is intended. All characters depicted in sexual situations are above the age of consent.

* * *

Acceptance 

Albus sighed. The cacophony of sounds and flashing rainbow of colours around him were not helping cure him of his bad mood. In fact, the chaos of the beachside carnival was only adding to Albus Severus Potter's confusion and, if truth be told, was making him more than a little nauseous. A high-pitched shriek pierced his brain like a sharp knife and he winced, turning with exaggerated patience to the blonde who had his hand in a vice-like grip.

'_Oooh_, Albus!' she squealed, bouncing up and down. 'A Tunnel of Love! Let's get a ticket!' She was tugging him the direction of the violently pink, love heart smothered enclosure and Albus pulled away in panic.

'Ah, Chloe...'

'Cassie,' she corrected, frowning at him

'Cassie,' he murmured apologetically, not really caring that he'd offended a girl he'd met just an hour before. 'Listen, I'm not really a 'Tunnel of Love' kind of guy...'

She smirked, stepping closer and flattening her hand on his chest. 'No?' she queried, raising an inquisitive eyebrow. 'And what kind of guy are you exactly?'

Her smile left nothing to the imagination – if she got him alone, she was going to eat him alive.

Most men would be thrilled by that prospect, Albus knew; his brother James would kick Albus' arse if he knew he was turning down the sure thing he'd arranged for him, but Al couldn't summon up the appropriate enthusiasm to pretend he was interested.

'Look, Chrissie,' he said, trying to let her down gently. 'I...er...am...' He scrabbled frantically for an excuse then, as if he'd heard Albus' silent scream for help, Scorpius Malfoy appeared.

'Scorp!' Albus cried, making several heads turn. 'Ah, that's my friend,' he said to a disgruntled Cassie. 'I...we...he...'

'Oh, just go!' she snapped, waving her hands dismissively. 'I told your brother that if you still hadn't had a girlfriend by seventeen that you must be gay, but he insisted you liked girls...'

'I _do_ like girls,' Al lied weakly and she laughed.

'Albus, I'm offering you no-strings sex,' she said matter-of-factly. 'The only reason for you to turn me down is if you are gay or a eunuch.'

Al didn't have a chance for rebuttal; Cassie just flicked her eyes pointedly down to his crotch, raised an eyebrow then turned on her heel and stalked away with an affronted flounce.

'You're wicked with the ladies, Potter,' came a sardonic voice off to his left and Albus snapped his head around to glare at an amused Scorpius. 'Must be all that manly charm.'

'Shut up, Malfoy,' he muttered, walking over to the other boy and scoffing at the stick of cotton candy he held. 'Out of the both of us, I'm obviously the most masculine. I'm not the one walking around with a handful of pink fluff.'

Scorpius just grinned, shoving some of the spun sugar confection into his mouth, and Albus growled as the urge to lick the sweetness of those lips hit him hard. He still wasn't exactly sure how he and Scorpius had begun this..._thing_...that they had, but he knew that the desire to touch and kiss and..._gods_...fuck the other boy at all hours of the day were starting to become harder to control. If only Scorp had been a girl...

_...you wouldn't be interested in him._

Al looked away as Scorpius licked sugary granules off his fingers. It was true: part of his attraction to Scorpius was the way the other boy touched him so knowingly, so assuredly – a girl couldn't know a bloke's body so instinctively.

_And you just love the feel of his cock in your arse.  
_

'When are you going to admit that you aren't strictly a breast man?' Scorpius said suddenly, as if he'd read Al's mind, and Albus shifted uncomfortably.

'When my family stops making jokes about queers and poofs and how they are so pleased that Uncle Charlie's tragic _unnaturalness_ hasn't influenced any of the children...'

Scorpius huffed, his face twisting into a scowl as they yet again rehashed the old argument. 'So...you're going to pretend to be something you're not for what could very well be the rest of your life?' he asked.

Albus sighed and pulled Scorpius out of the way of the carnival traffic, squeezing them in between two ticket booths. 'You don't get it, Scorpius...' he began, but his friend cut him off.

'Of course I get it,' he snapped back. 'Do you think it was a fucking picnic telling my dad that, barring some kind of medical breakthrough, the Malfoy line was going to end with me? Do you think it was easy telling my mother that there would be no grandchildren for her to dote over? It was the hardest fucking thing I've ever done; I broke my parents' hearts, Albus. And what for? A bloke that won't even admit to himself that he fancies me, despite the fact my cock has been down his throat on more than one occasion...'

'Scorpius!' Albus hissed, looking around to see if James or Lily or...god forbid...his parents were nearby.

'Oh, fuck off, Potter,' Scorpius said angrily, throwing the cotton candy by Albus' feet. 'The way we feel is not unnatural or abnormal...it's just the way we are wired. It sucks to be different, but it's just a fact of nature.' He lifted his chin stubbornly. 'And what's tragic is that until you accept yourself, you'll never be happy. And if I hang about waiting for you, neither will I.'

Fear gripped Albus, his stomach lurching sickeningly. He opened his mouth to say something, _anything_, to make this better, but Scorpius was already walking away, shoulders slumped. Al bit his lip hard and as anger bursting inside him, he kicked the wall of the ticket booth hard, over and over until he felt a strong hand on his shoulder.

'Al?'

Albus spun around, his rage only intensifying at the sight of his brother. His brother who kept setting him up with girls, his brother who had once called Uncle Charlie a fairy, his brother who represented a family that would never accept him...

His fist had struck James' jaw before he even realised he'd swung the punch. James cried out and clutched at his face.

'Albus! What the fuck?' he yelled, holding his jaw.

Just as quickly as it had come, Albus' anger faded and, to his horror, tears stung his eyes. 'I...I...can't...' Unable to stop the humiliating tears from falling, Albus took off through the carnival crowd with no clue where he was going except that it was away from James.

But it was not to be. James had always been faster than Albus and, as they reached the edge of the carnival, he caught up with him.

'Albus? What the hell was that for?' James demanded, glaring at his younger brother. When Al shook his head and attempted to leave, James seized his arm.

'Al, I only came to see if you were alright,' he said, frowning. 'Cassie said you blew her off...'

'I'm not fucking interested in Cassie!' Albus shouted, jerking his arm away from his brother. 'I'm not interested in _any_ of the girls you set me up with!'

James cocked his head, staring intently at the other boy. 'Well,' he said finally. 'Not quite an admission, but I guess that's as good as it's going to get.'

'You can go and...what?' Albus spluttered, disconcerted by the unexpected response.

James sighed and ran a hand through his hair. 'Al, did you really think I didn't notice the way you avoid girls like they really do have cooties?' he said wearily. 'Most guys your age – even the shy ones – have had at least one steady girlfriend. So I started to wonder why...'

Al stopped breathing, hands fisting so tightly his fingernails cut into his palms. _James knew?  
_

'You were pretty subtle,' he continued. 'So I started to set you up with girls to see what happened. You never seemed very thrilled to be with them, but you kept saying yes to the dates, so I thought I might have been mistaken. But then you and Scorpius...'

He winced and cleared his throat. 'You and Scorpius _are_ going out, aren't you?' he asked, sounding reluctant to hear the answer. 'You both started looking really...happy...at the beginning of this year and you..._look_...at each other...'

James shrugged then peered at Albus' pale face. 'Al? I'm right, aren't I? You...you're gay?'

Albus could feel a warm trickle of blood slipping through his fingers and his voice shook hard when he whispered, 'Please don't tell. I'll do anything, James...'

James frowned, staring at Albus until a look of comprehension crossed his face. 'You thought I'd...you thought I'd tell everyone? That I'd hurt you or something?'

'Uncle Charlie...you said...'

James flushed. 'I'm not proud of calling him a...well, what I called him...but I didn't know any better then. I do now, and I've apologised to him for saying that. Look, I'm not going to tell you that everyone is going to be thrilled to death that you want to shag blokes - I'm not telling you _I'm_ happy about it – but you were miserable until this year, Al. Everyone has noticed how much happier you've been; I don't think you'll have as much trouble coming out as you think.'

Al let out a slightly hysterical laugh. 'You don't hate me?' he asked and James shook his head.

'We all just want you to be happy,' he said then snorted in amusement. 'And frankly, I think you'll have less reaction from Dad and Uncle Ron when you tell them that you like boys than you will breaking the news that Malfoy is your - friend – of choice.'

Al closed his eyes, recalling Scorpius' earlier words. 'I'm not so sure Scorp wants to be my friend of choice anymore,' he mumbled miserably.

James smirked. 'Oh, I think you'll find he does. Why else would he be listening in on our private conversation?'

Al looked startled when Scorpius stepped out from behind a nearby tree. 'You shouldn't have private conversations in a public place then,' Scorpius retorted, his light flush the only sign he was embarrassed about being caught eavesdropping. He looked at Al, moving quickly to his side.

'Alright?' he muttered under his breath. Al nodded and Scorpius smiled, sliding his hand into the brunette's.

_'Ack_!' James said, screwing up his nose. 'I'll leave you to your...whatever you're about to do. Don't leave it too long to tell them, Al.'

Al didn't see him go; he was too focused on searching Scorpius' face. 'I'm sorry,' he murmured and Scorpius smiled.

'I know,' he said, squeezing Al's hand. 'Are...are you going to tell them?'

Albus thought then nodded slowly. 'Yes,' he whispered. 'You were right. This is me and I'll never be happy if I don't accept that.'

'And _their _acceptance?' Scorpius asked warily. 'What if your family doesn't accept it?'

Albus pulled his hand free and cupped the blonde's face. 'I don't care,' he said determinedly. 'I'll have you, I'll have James...and probably Lily – she does anything James tells her. Aunt Hermione is open-minded...' He nodded, smiling at Scorpius and marvelling at how much having his brother's support had boosted him. 'We'll be fine.'

Scorpius grinned then, after a quick glance around, he leaned in and kissed Albus. They grinned goofily at each other for several seconds then Albus pulled Scorpius back towards the carnival. 'Let's go back,' he said suddenly. 'I'll let you choose the first ride.'

Scorpius raised an eyebrow as a wicked smile spread across his face. 'Any ride I want?' he murmured and Albus chuckled.

'Mmm,' he agreed, biting his lip as his eyes wandered over Scorpius' tight, fit body. 'Any ride you want.'

Scorpius shivered then pulled Albus to him. 'I want to go on the 'Tunnel of Love',' he teased and Albus moaned.

'That had _better_ be a euphemism,' he muttered, rolling his hips against Scorpius before pulling him into a deep kiss.

'Mmm,' Scorpius said breathlessly when Al let him go. 'You know, your family are all here at the carnival which means that your house is empty...'

'Tunnel of Love, here we come,' whispered Al, clutching a laughing Scorpius to him and Apparating away.

fin.


End file.
